Railway car

ABSTRACT

A gondola type railway car has a bottom plate of parabolic shape extending down between the wheel assemblies or trucks of the car and free of external and internal reinforcement, giving maximum capacity with minimum car weight.

O United States Patent 1 1 11 1 3,713,400 Teoli 1 Jan. 30, 1973 [54] RAILWAY CAR [56] References Cited [76] inventor: Anthony Teoli, 174 Sunderland UNITED STATES PATENTS Avenue, Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada 3,240,168 3/1966 Charles et al. ..l05/406 R 2,078,939 5/1937 Ferguson ..l05/360 [22] Filed: J 29, 1970 3.4751209 1l/l969 Brown ..105/358 [21] Appl. No.1 50,807

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Richard A. Bertsch [30] Forelgn Appllcatlon Prlorlty Data Anomey smart &IBig-gar April 14, 1970 Canada ..080117 [57] ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl. ..105/406 R, 105/422, 180/5 A 51 1m.c1 ..B6ld 17/10, B61d 15/00 A gmdola Car has a Plate of of R, parabollc shape extendmg down between the wheel I 105/413 422 assemblies 0r trucks of the car and free of external and internal reinforcement, giving maximum capacity with minimum car weight,

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures RAILWAY CAR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to railway cars and more particularly to a railway car of the open gondola type in which lading is loaded and unloaded from the open top.

Gondola cars are normally employed to carry bulky materials, such as coal, sand, gravel, steel structures and the like. Such gondola cars usually have a continuous center sill structure extending the length of the car which limits the capacity of the car and produces a relatively high center of gravity in the loaded car as well as increasing the weight of the car.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an open gondola type railway car which does not employ a continuous center sill structure extending the length of the car and has a minimum height center of gravity for the loaded car.

An additional object of this invention is the provision of such a railway car which has a relatively smooth unobstructed interior and is particularly adapted for rotary unloading with a highly effective clean-out of the car.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a gondola type railway car having a maximum volume or capacity within minimum height, length and weight ranges.

Briefly described, the gondola type railway car of the present invention comprises connected sides and ends with an open top, an end stub center sill structure at each end of the car over an associated wheel assembly, and a dropped center portion between the stub center sill structures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART.

Prior attempts have been made to achieve the objects of the present invention. In US. Pat. No. 3,240,168, issued Mar. 15, I966, to A. F. Charles et al., for example, a gondola car is described which has end stub center sills over wheel assemblies and between the latter a pocket is defined by a trough-shaped plate formed of a plurality of sections welded together and secured to end plates. Transverse stiffeners of channel shape are spaced longitudinally along the plate and follow the outer surface of the plate between the side sills of the car.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The main difference between the car disclosed in that US patent and a car according to the present invention lies in the use of a parabolic bottom plate rather than the trough-shaped plate. The parabolic plate eliminates the need for external reinforcing such as the transverse stiffeners called for in the aforesaid U.S. patent. When a car according to the present invention is loaded with coal, the pressure of the coal stabilizes the contour of the parabolic plate or sheet. From an engineering point of view the sheet functions very efficiently and does not require reinforcing because it is subjected only to tensile stresses in a modified hoop stress manner. The of the reinforcement at the bottom of the car, of course, makes for a lighter-weight car then hitherto thought possible.

Another feature in a car according toa preferred embodiment of the invention is an obstruction-free interior which permits free-flow of the lading. The side posts and other upper structural members are all located on the outside of the car shell. The sides and ends are tapered, all square comers are rounded, and these features combined with the rounded bottom assure rapid evacuation of the load with little or no residue left in the car.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section and partly broken away, of a gondola car embodying the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The car has downwardly converging side panels 10 made of reinforced sheet material 11, secured at the top to box section side plates 12 and at the bottom to box section side sills 13. Channel section side posts 14 and stiffeners 15 extend between beams 12 and sills 13.

At the respective ends of the car the sills 13 are seated upon body bolsters 16 that are united to end stub center sills 17. Wheels 18 are secured to body bolsters l6 and are adapted to rest upon the car trucks (not shown). Between the trucks a bottom sheet 19 in the form of a parabolic curve is welded, by continuous welding, to protruding flanges 20 and faces 21 of the box section side sills 13. To prevent lateral movement of the side panels, tubular spacers 22 and '23 are welded, at spaced intervals, to the side sills 13 and to reinforcing members 24 secured adjacent to the top edges of the side panels. The ends of the pocket formed by the parabolic sheet are closed by sloping sheets 26 welded thereto and which terminate at and are secured to shear plates 25. The respective ends of the car are closed by downwardly converging panels 27 which are secured to the side panels 10 by welding. The said end panels are strengthened by diagonal braces 28.

The car is provided in known manner with rotary coupling means, which need not be described in detail.

Small, curved plates 29 are welded into the corners where the side panels 10 and end panels 27 meet and where those panels meet the decks 25.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An open top gondola railway car comprising,

a closed bottom,

a pair of generally vertically extending end panels,

a pair of generally vertically extending side panels, said bottom, said side panels and said end panels being connected together to form the open top gondola car,

reinforcing means for reinforcing said side panels, said reinforcing means comprising a pair of side sills extending for the length of the car, one on each side thereof, and stiffener means operatively connected to the sills and extending vertically upwardly therefrom for stiffening the side panels,

a pair of end stub center sills located one at each end of the car along the longitudinal center line thereof, and each end center sill supporting its respective end of the car, a pair of wheel assemblies located one at each end of the car, each end stub center sill resting on one of said wheel assembottom sheet. blies, 2. A gondola type railway car as claimed in claim 1, said bottom including a bottom sheet connected wherein said side sills are on the outside of said side along its longitudinal edges to the bottoms of the panels. side panels, extending downwardly between the 5 3. A gondola type railway car as claimed in claim 2, wheel assemblies, and being parabolic in shape, said reinforcing means including box section side plates taken in a plane transverse to the longitudinal at the tops of said side panels, on the outside thereof, direction of the ear, in both it nload d d it and vertically extending reinforcing members secured loaded condition, to said side sills and said side plates. said bottom sheet being free of external and internal l A g d 'type ilway car as claimed in claim 3, reinforcement, thus permitting its parabolic shape wherein Said end Panels are tapered downwardly, Said to be stabilized-by loads within the car which subside P converge downwardly n curved Plates are j et th bott Sheet l to il stresses i a secured in the corners where said end and side panels m difi d h stress manner, meet each other and where said side and end panels d means f interconnecting id d b center l meet end decks of the said car bottom above said wheel sills to said side sills for force transmission assembhesv v therebetween such that end compressive forces ex- 'l p f y according to Claim erted on h d f h gondola car on either end wherein said bottom also includes transversely extendstub center sill in a longitudinal direction of the car "8 end sheets secured to the longitudmal ends of the are transmitted along the length of the car to the other end stub center sill substantially through said side sills, substantially bypassing said parabolic remainder of the said bottom.

20 bottom sheet and connecting the same to the- 

1. An open top gondola railway car comprising, a closed bottom, a pair of generally vertically extending end panels, a pair of generally vertically extending side panels, said bottom, said side panels and said end panels being connected together to form the open top gondola car, reinforcing means for reinforcing said side panels, said reinforcing means comprising a pair of side sills extending for the length of the car, one on each side thereof, and stiffener means operatively connected to the sills and extending vertically upwardly therefrom for stiffening the side panels, a pair of end stub center sills located one at each end of the car along the longitudinal center line thereof, and each end center sill supporting its respective end of the car, a pair of wheel assemblies located one at each end of the car, each end stub center sill resting on one of said wheel assemblies, said bottom including a bottom sheet connected along its longitudinal edges to the bottoms of the side panels, extending downwardly between the wheel assemblies, and being parabolic in shape, taken in a plane transverse to the longitudinal direction of the car, in both its unloaded and its loaded condition, said bottom sheet being free of external and internal reinforcement, thus permitting its parabolic shape to be stabilized by loads within the car which subject the bottom sheet only to tensile stresses in a modified hoop stress manner, and means for interconnecting said end stub center sills to said side sills for force transmission therebetween such that end compressive forces exerted on the ends of the gondola car on either end stub center sill in a longitudinal direction of the car are transmitted along the length of the car to the other end stub center sill substantially through said side sills, substantially bypassing said parabolic bottom sheet.
 1. An open top gondola railway car comprising, a closed bottom, a pair of generally vertically extending end panels, a pair of generally vertically extending side panels, said bottom, said side panels and said end panels being connected together to form the open top gondola car, reinforcing means for reinforcing said side panels, said reinforcing means comprising a pair of side sills extending for the length of the car, one on each side thereof, and stiffener means operatively connected to the sills and extending vertically upwardly therefrom for stiffening the side panels, a pair of end stub center sills located one at each end of the car along the longitudinal center line thereof, and each end center sill supporting its respective end of the car, a pair of wheel assemblies located one at each end of the car, each end stub center sill resting on one of said wheel assemblies, said bottom including a bottom sheet connected along its longitudinal edges to the bottoms of the side panels, extending downwardly between the wheel assemblies, and being parabolic in shape, taken in a plane transverse to the longitudinal direction of the car, in both its unloaded and its loaded condition, said bottom sheet being free of external and internal reinforcement, thus permitting its parabolic shape to be stabilized by loads within the car which subject the bottom sheet only to tensile stresses in a modified hoop stress manner, and means for interconnecting said end stub center sills to said side sills for force transmission therebetween such that end compressive forces exerted on the ends of the gondola car on either end stub center sill in a longitudinal direction of the car are transmitted along the length of the car to the other end stub center sill substantially through said side sills, substantially bypassing said parabolic bottom sheet.
 2. A gondola type railway car as claimed in claim 1, wherein said side sills are on the outside of said side panels.
 3. A gondola type railway car as claimed in claim 2, said reinforcing means including box section side plates at the tops of said side panels, on the outside thereof, and vertically extending reinforcing members secured to said side sills and said side plates.
 4. A gondola type railway car as claimed in claim 3, wherein said end panels are tapered downwardly, said side panels converge downwardly and curved plates are secured in the corners where said end and side panels meet each other and where said side and end panels meet end decks of the said car bottom above said wheel assemblies. 